Month: January 2024

By MARK STEVENSON Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico is acknowledging that at least two well-known Mayan ruin sites are unreachable by visitors due to cartel violence or land disputes. But two tourist guides in the southern state of Chiapas say the routes to two other sites are plagued by drug gang checkpoints and

BEIJING (AP) — China’s foreign minister has told U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan that Washington should stand by a commitment not to support independence for Taiwan, during talks between the world’s two largest economies in the Thai capital. That’s according to Saturday’s statement from the Chinese foreign ministry. Wang Yi said Taiwan’s recent election

Associated Press Alaska Airlines began flying Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners again for the first time Friday since they were grounded after a panel blew out of the side of one of the airline’s planes. The airline said in a statement that it has completed its final inspection of their group of the aircraft. They

By SABINA NIKSIC Associated Press SREBRENICA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Jews and Muslims from Bosnia and abroad gathered in Srebrenica to jointly observe International Holocaust Remembrance Day and promote compassion and dialogue amid rising global sectarian hatred fueled by Israel’s war in Gaza. The two communities used the occasion on Saturday to launch the Srebrenica Muslim-Jewish

By TOM ODULA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Thousands of people have marched in cities and towns in Kenya to protest the recent slayings of more than a dozen women. The anti-femicide demonstration was the largest event ever held in the country against sexual and gender-based violence. In the nation’s capital, Nairobi, protesters wore

By KEVIN FREKING and FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — When IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel met privately with senators recently, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee asked for his assessment of a startling report: A whistleblower estimated that 95% of claims now being made by businesses for a COVID-era tax break were fraudulent.

By ABBY SEWELL Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Iraq’s prime minister says his government and the United States have held a first session of formal talks in Baghdad aimed at winding down the mission of a U.S.-led military coalition formed to fight the Islamic State group in Iraq. The beginning of talks on Saturday comes

By KIM CHANDLER and SEAN MURPHY Associated Press Writers ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — Experts on capital punishment say Alabama’s first-ever use of nitrogen gas to execute a man could could gain traction among other states and change how the death penalty is carried out in the United States. Kenneth Eugene Smith was declared dead Thursday

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A man who shot former New Orleans Saints star Will Smith following a traffic crash nearly eight years ago has been convicted of manslaughter. News outlets report the jury deliberated for more than four hours and reached its verdict in the retrial of Cardell Hayes just after midnight Saturday. He faces

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian news outlet says unknown gunmen have shot to death nine people in the southeastern part of Iran that borders Pakistan. Saturday’s report by the semiofficial Mehr news agency said the shootings took place in a home near the town of Saravan, adding that the victims were not Iranian. HalVash,

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will host German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House on Feb. 9 as the West struggles to provide new aid for Ukraine in the war against Russia. The White House says the leaders “will reaffirm their resolute support for Ukraine’s defense of its land and its people against

By DEVI SHASTRI AP Health Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Elisa Reyes has come to Plaza del Sol Family Health Center for doctor’s appointments for more than a decade. She moved away a while ago but keeps returning — even if it means a two-hour roundtrip bus ride. That’s because her two children see the

By DEVI SHASTRI AP Health Writer Elisa Reyes has come to Plaza del Sol Family Health Center for doctor’s appointments for more than a decade. Though she moved away a while ago, the 33-year-old keeps returning, even if it means a two-hour roundtrip bus ride. That’s because her two children see the same doctor she

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — The crew aboard a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker hit by a missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels extinguished an hourslong fire onboard the stricken vessel Saturday sparked by the strike, authorities said. The attack on the Marlin Luanda further complicated the Red Sea crisis caused by the Iranian-backed

By NAJIB JOBAIN and WAFAA SHURAFA Associated Press RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Witnesses say an Israeli airstrike on a house in the southern Gaza Strip killed two women and a man as Israel pursued its offensive against the Palestinian enclave. The deaths early Saturday came less than a day after the International Court of

PARIS (AP) — French farmers have vowed to continue protesting and are maintaining traffic barricades on some of the country’s major roads. The government announced a series of measures Friday but the farmers say these do not fully address their demands. The farmers want better remuneration for their produce, less red tape and protection against

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called on all citizens to defend Germany’s democracy and fight antisemitism as the country marks the 79th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazis death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau during World War II. Since 1996, Germany has also marked January 27 as a day to

By The Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Officials in Ukraine say Russia has provided no credible evidence to back its claims that their own forces shot down a military transport plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war who were to be swapped for Russian POWs. Ukraine’s Coordination Staff for the Treatment of Prisoners of War

SYDNEY (AP) — Prime Minister Kausea Natano has reportedly lost his seat in parliament in elections on the tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvalu. The election for the 16-seat parliament, which could have implications for China, Taiwan and Australia, saw eight newcomers win seats, according to Radio New Zealand. The report couldn’t be independently confirmed.

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine army says troops killed nine suspected Muslim militants in the volatile south, including two key suspects in a bomb attack last month that left four Christian worshippers dead. Four army scout rangers were slightly wounded in Thursday’s operation against the Dawlah Islamiyah, a small outfit

By PETER SMITH Associated Press Devotees of St. Brigid plan to celebrate her Sunday with the scheduled return of a relic associated with the so-called matron saint of Ireland. The festivities come about a millennium after her remains were removed from the town of Kildare, where she founded a prestigious abbey and inspired a host

By DÁNICA COTO and EVENS SANON Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — People across Haiti are wondering what awaits them after a court in Kenya blocked the deployment of a U.N.-backed police force to help fight gangs in the troubled Caribbean country. Uncertainty and fear have been spreading since Friday’s ruling, with violence reaching new

By ALON BERNSTEIN and JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press ASHKELON, Israel (AP) — Holocaust survivor Gad Partok never thought he’d live to see horrors like the ones he witnessed as a young boy in Tunisia when Nazis invaded his town and killed many of his neighbors. But the 93-year-old Israeli says that childhood trauma was viscerally

By TERRY CHEA Associated Press PETALUMA, Calif. (AP) — A year after the bird flu led to record egg prices and widespread shortages, the disease known as highly pathogenic avian influenza is wreaking havoc on California poultry farms. The state had escaped the earlier wave of outbreaks that devastated egg producers in the Midwest. Experts

By DAVID KLEPPER and HUIZHONG WU Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The rumors about vote fraud started swirling as the ballots in Taiwan’s closely watched presidential election were tallied on Jan. 13. There were baseless claims that people had fabricated votes and that officials had miscounted and skewed the results. In a widely shared video,

By MEG KINNARD and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Joe Biden doesn’t need to worry about his prospects in South Carolina’s Democratic primary next week. He’s got that locked up. He also knows he’s not likely to win the solidly red state come November. It hasn’t voted for a Democrat since 1976.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A group of survivors of Nazi death camps will mark the 79th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp during World War II in a modest ceremony in southern Poland. Some 20 survivors from various camps set up by the Nazis will lay wreaths Saturday at the Death Wall in

MIAMI (AP) — The world’s largest cruise ship is set to begin its maiden voyage from the Port of Miami. Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas is leaving South Florida on Saturday for its first seven-day island-hopping voyage through the tropics. The ship runs nearly 1,200 feet from bow to stern. It was officially christened

By PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s American Museum of Natural History is closing two halls featuring Native American objects. The museum’s president told staff in a letter Friday about the weekend closures that the exhibits are “severely outdated” and contain culturally sensitive items. The Manhattan institution is the latest

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s defense ministry says China sent more than 30 warplanes and a group of navy ships toward the island in a 24-hour period. The military pressure reported Saturday by Taiwan comes on the heels of an announcement that United States National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan would meet with Chinese Foreign Minister

By TOM ODULA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya’s high court has blocked the U.N.-backed deployment of Kenyan police officers to Haiti to help the Caribbean country bring gang violence under control. Kenya’s parliament had passed a motion in November allowing the deployment of 1,000 officers to lead a multinational force in Haiti. But

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — Wrestling icon Vince McMahon has resigned from WWE’s parent company. Friday’s resignation occurred the day after a former employee filed a federal lawsuit accusing him and another former executive of serious sexual misconduct, including offering her to a star wrestler for sex. McMahon stepped down from the board of directors at

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A Washington state man who made over 20 “swatting” calls around the country and in Canada, prompting emergency responses to his fake reports of bombs, shootings or other threats, has pleaded guilty to four crimes. U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman says 21-year-old Ashton Garcia pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has approved the sale of F-16 fighters jets to Turkey following the Turkish government’s ratification this week of Sweden’s membership in NATO. A U.S. official says the State Department notified Congress of its approval of the sale, along with a companion sale of

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — A prosecutor says an American founder of a Haitian orphanage forced four boys who lived in the institution to engage in sexual acts more than a decade ago. Jessica Urban is a prosecutor with the Justice Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. Appearing via video conference Friday,

By KIM CHANDLER Associated Press ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — Witnesses watched through a window at an Alabama prison as Kenneth Eugene Smith became the nation’s first person to be put to death using nitrogen gas. Smith shook and convulsed while strapped to the gurney. His arms pulled against the restraining straps. The shaking went on

MEXICO CITY (AP) — At first it sounds like a typical case of bad behavior aboard airplanes. The Mexico City International Airport acknowledged in a statement Friday that a man had opened an emergency exit and walked out on a wing of a plane parked and waiting for takeoff Thursday. The airport said the man

WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — One of the two Wisconsin women accused of stabbing a classmate in 2014 to please internet horror character Slender Man is asking a judge again to release her from a mental institution. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that 21-year-old Morgan Geyser petitioned a Waukesha County judge on Jan. 16 for conditional

OLYMPIC VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — An alleged carjacking suspect was fatally shot by police at a California ski resort near Lake Tahoe. The shooting occurred around 10 a.m. Friday near an event center that often hosts weddings at Palisades Tahoe. That’s according to California State Parks. The suspect’s identity was not immediately released. The parks

By MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska is looking to follow in the footsteps of Kentucky in implementing a program that covers the costs of child care for child care workers. The benefit aims to draw more workers into the child care industry since it’s experiencing dire shortages across the county.

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Hawaii officials have identified the last of the 100 known victims of the wildfire that destroyed Lahaina in August. Identifying those who perished in the deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in more than a century has been a long, arduous process. Forensic experts and cadaver dogs sifted through ash for bodies

By JOHN O’CONNOR AP Political Writer SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois officials have awarded a prison medical care contract to the same company it’s been using for years, despite multimillion-dollar lawsuits and widespread accusations of substandard care. Pittsburgh-based Wexford Health Sources was one of two companies responding to a request for proposals from the Illinois

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas town is in uproar after a prized Jackie Robinson statue was stolen from a public park. Wichita police on Friday were still searching for the statue of the baseball legend and civil rights icon, which was cut at the ankles and hauled away Thursday. Robinson’s feet are all that

By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Of course Brad Pitt is at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the most prestigious endurance race in the United States. The actor is not at Daytona International Speedway as a fan though. He’s actually on track filming scenes for his yet-to-be-titled Formula One

By JACK DURA Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Newly released investigative reports into last year’s deadly ambush of Fargo police officers show the gunman’s movements in the hours before the shooting. Still images from Mohamad Barakat’s apartment and surveillance cameras show him loading his weapons into a garage and visiting a gun range on